port henderson : past & present - Royal Commission on the Ancient ...

Port Henderson were built to conform in some small way with this proposal and as already stated Port
Henderson became a fishing village in 1815. Although there was no real harbour, no school (except for
the SSPCK one, see p.40) or church, the only houses were situated on the shore with gardens to the
rear and the census of 1851 records that there were 17 fishermen in the village. According to the early
Estate Records (1830 - 40) the numbers of the tenants, about 22 names, matched the number on the
original sett of 1815 (see p.32) which would then match the Estate’s numbering of the first crofts.
Fishing for herring took place relatively close to the shore, about five to ten miles out and small
line fishing, with a lighter weight line, was used although in the early 1880s Mr. Russell, the parish
minister in 1836, stated that Gairloch herring was taken in nets. Because herring is an oily fish it has to
be cured in barrels. In the 1880s many of the young men in the Gairloch area went to places like
Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Wick for the summer herring fishing.
Small boats could be beached at Port Henderson but larger boats moored at Badachro where
there was a landing stage.
Cod fishing
In the 19 th century up to the early years of the 20 th century cod was caught using the long-line which
was a long fishing-line with thousands of hooks attached. However, there was then the initial expense
of buying the bait (although local mussels were used, see p.18). Cod was prized for its white tasty
flesh. It was easy to catch and preferred shallow waters where warm and cold currents merged. The
season for cod was between February and April and near Port Henderson, on Eilean Horisdale and Dry
Island and at the village of Badachro, there were fish-curing stations. (The specifications for the
building of the pier and curing house at Badachro were set out in a paper dated August 14 th 1849 in the
presence of John Mackenzie, for the Gairloch Estate, and witnessed by Thomas Anderson. The
contractors were William Henderson and Son. It is interesting to note these names. Could the fishing
village name of Port Henderson have been derived from these contractors? Were they working in the
area earlier?) In 1826 a James Henderson of Clyth, a fish curer on the east coast, went to Ullapool. It
was his plan to establish stores at different stations around the coast for the reception of salt and casks
which would enable the fishermen to deposit the fish they had caught without any loss of time. Was
this the same Henderson? The fish (and herring included) would be salted because it was a problem to
keep it fresh. Herring was more difficult to cure than white fish because this needed salt-curing in
water-tight barrels. (In 1911 it was recorded that there were three fish-curers in Badachro. Often the
curers came from north-east Scotland and their names showed this such as John Watt who worked in
Badachro). Curers needed a full-time cooper making barrels throughout the year, somewhere to make
the barrels and a store of salt. It was usual for the curers to lay in hundreds of bushels of salt before
each season although in the late 1700s the salt laws which required the curers to keep their salt locked
in storehouses greatly reduced the west coast fishing because it was too expensive for the fishermen to
keep enough salt for when this was needed. Salt was also heavily taxed. However, in 1825 the salt
18